Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance (12 page)

Clearly, sleeping with Alicia had scrambled his brains much more than he'd anticipated.

Next to him, still partially atop him, Alicia blinked, moved a little closer against him as she squirmed to get comfortable. A soft little sound, barely even a sigh, slipped out of her, and Tanner inexplicably felt himself harden a little at even that small, barely audible noise. How could she still have a hold on him, even after he'd just attained release?

Finally, Alicia turned, enough so that she could rest her chin on his broad chest and gaze down into his eyes. "So," she said.

That was it. Just "So." Tanner tried to think, tried to strategize, but his brain felt as if someone had run rampant inside of it, wielding a stick blender with reckless abandon.

"So," he repeated back, aware that he sounded like an idiot but not knowing what else to say.

"That..." Alicia seemed to be experiencing a similar struggle for words. "That wasn't what I expected to happen."

"No, me neither." Was this all that they were capable of? Small talk, as they lay naked together after gloriously coupling in Alicia's bed? Fighting that sluggishness in his mind, Tanner tried to find something, anything else to say. "I promise, I didn't do that because..."

Alicia sat up a little more as Tanner trailed off. "Because of what?" she asked.

He wished he hadn't gone down this path. "Because I want to blackmail you, get leverage over you, anything like that."

He expected her to blow up, to get angry that he'd even consider such a repulsive action. Instead, however, Alicia surprised him by nodding, as if he'd stated that the Earth was round, or that she was currently naked.

"Of course not," she replied, her hand reaching up to brush the side of his face. "Because we're on a truce."

Yes, of course! The truce! Tanner's mind seized onto this explanation like a drowning sailor catching onto a life preserver. Because they were on a truce, his intentions were noble! He didn't sleep with her in an effort to seduce her and blackmail her - he just felt a rush of desire, and she reciprocated! That was all!

As he grabbed onto this flimsy excuse, Alicia sat up in bed, shaking her head slightly to send her hair cascading down her back. "And now, I think that I could use a shower," she announced. She spared one last look down at Tanner's nude body, stretched out on full display, and he saw that little smirk once again dance around her lips as her eyes ran over his bulging biceps, the texture of his six-pack, his muscular thighs. Was she admiring what she'd just conquered? Laughing at how easily she got him into bed? Hungry for more?

By the time that Tanner sat up, his lips trying to form one of the dozen hazy questions buzzing around in his head, Alicia was already out of the room, the bathroom door drifting most of the way closed behind her. Seconds later, Tanner's ears caught the rush of water as the shower started up.

What should he do now? Tanner looked down at himself, still naked, still sweaty, goosebumps beginning to pop out here and there across his skin as the beads of sweat evaporated and carried off some of his body heat. He probably needed to get dressed, head home, get away from Alicia and her ability to scramble his thoughts and see inside his head. There, he could relax, try and figure out just how this ended up happening, how he could use it to his advantage in the developing chess game between the Senator and himself.

He stood up, his hand starting to reach for his pants - but paused, looking over at the door to her bathroom.

It still stood partially open, and he could see little bits of warm mist drifting out. His legs betraying him, Tanner moved closer. Alicia's shower apparently featured sliding glass doors, rather than a curtain - and he could catch the thinnest little glimpse of fresh, flushed pink skin as she moved inside. A soft, melodic hum drifted out through the cracked door.

Was the cracked door an invitation?

Tanner knew that he needed to leave, that staying would only make this worse. But even as his mind agreed that yes, departure was the prudent decision, his legs carried him into the bathroom and his hand reached out to push the shower door open.

Alicia just smiled at him as he slipped inside, her body soft and warm and wet as it pulled him in, her lips already against his own...

Chapter Thirteen

*

Back in his own apartment, several hours later, Tanner stared straight ahead at the blackness of his television. He hadn't bothered to turn it on; he knew that he couldn't focus well enough to follow a news or entertainment program at the moment.

What had he done? What had he been thinking?

Well, to be fair, Tanner knew the answer to that second question. He hadn't been thinking, not in any way, shape, or form. He'd walked Alicia back to her apartment after spending the entire evening getting to know her better, acting almost like he was on a date, and yes, fantasizing about how she'd feel in bed, naked and willing beneath him, her hot skin pressed against his own.

Amazing, he sighed, thinking back to their time together in her bed - and then shook his head, reaching up to lightly slap himself across the cheek. Knock it off! Stop dwelling on that!

It was true, however. He'd been fantasizing about her from the moment that he met her. Something about that cool demeanor, the way that she instantly shut him down and saw right through his fake persona, spotted that he wasn't being honest with her, caught his attention in a way that no other woman had managed in the past. That, right from the beginning, drew him to her.

And that body, and the way that she used it! Tanner sagged back further on his couch, reaching up to press both palms against his closed eyelids with a sigh. Having that sort of control, that kind of knockout seduction, ought to be illegal, he considered. When she pulled him to her, drew his lips to her chest, ran her fingernails along the length of his spine while pressing just deep enough to leave little furrows in his skin-

He needed to stop thinking about this. Tanner went to the custom bar that he'd had installed in a corner of his living room, poured himself a slug of generic whiskey. No point in breaking out the good stuff, not so late at night.

He tossed back the slug in a single gulp. He barely felt the fire as it went down his throat and settled into his stomach. He doled out another two fingers of amber liquid, dropped back down on the couch, stared down into the glass.

This was a good thing, he tried to tell himself. He could use this. If Alicia was willing to sleep with him, she truly believed in this truce. He could make use of that belief, turn it to his advantage in order to ferret out the information he needed. This was a sign that Senator Stone trusted him, in the office as well as in the confines of her apartment.

All he had to do was think logically about this, keep himself distanced and not let his emotions get in the way.

Hell, he went on, attempting to console himself. This didn't even mean that he needed to stop sleeping with the woman - far from it! The more he fucked her, the more she'd come to trust him, the more certain she'd be that he believed in this truce as much as she did. He'd earn her trust, learn all her weaknesses, and then strike at just the right moment to bring this bill crashing down in flames.

But could he separate himself from his feelings, detach his mind from the emotions? Even sitting here, with his eyes closed, all he saw was the lines of Alicia Stone's naked, perfect body, soft and warm and reaching out to draw him in and envelop him with her embrace...

Tanner grunted, slammed the glass of whiskey down onto his coffee table. Bed, he thought distantly to himself. He needed to go to bed, get some sleep. It was far too late - he'd already stayed out longer than he intended at the restaurant with Alicia, and then adding on the time for what happened afterward-

-soft, warmth, her wet mouth pressed against his, her body arching towards him and crying out for more, that soft little moan from the back of her throat whenever he drove himself all the way inside of her to fill her with his power, how eagerly she clutched at him, refusing to let him take it easy, needing him to take her with everything, make her come, make her scream in pleasure at the top of her lungs-

In his bedroom, Tanner flopped down face first onto his massive mattress, not even bothering to extract himself from his clothes. They were quite soiled already, after spending time scattered about Alicia's room. He'd have to send the whole suit off to the dry cleaner's; the thing stank of sex.

Grabbing a pillow, Tanner pulled it up, over his face. Even now, dammit, he couldn't get her out of his mind! Just lying in the sheets, the pillow blocking the bedroom light from his eyes, he could practically feel her next to him, could remember how warm and soft her body felt as it pressed against his own. Despite the punishment it had received, his cock flexed once again in his pants, as if hopeful that there might be yet another round in store.

Was this all because he'd taken time off from his usual hunt for women in bars and at clubs? It couldn't be. He'd gone for long breaks of time without having a woman before, and he hadn't fallen for the first young lady to break his dry spell. Sure, he could close his eyes and think back to a litany of healthy, flushed, nubile bodies that joined him in his bed (or in an alley, a bathroom stall, against a wall, on a couch, even in the middle of a swimming pool on one especially memorable night), but he'd never felt this rush of pure, overwhelming need towards any of those women before.

What made Alicia Stone any different?

Calm. Deep breaths. Think about something, anything else. Tanner struggled upright once again, forced himself to take off the soiled clothing. He hung the suit on a hanger, made a mental note to himself to drop it at the dry cleaner's.

Now what? He crawled back into his bed, beneath the sheets, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep. After a moment, he grunted and sat back up, padding in bare feet back out into his apartment.

He headed over to the second bedroom, one which Tanner had converted into his own private gym. He settled down on the bench, his bare back pressed against the fabric, looking up at the loaded bar on the rack above him. Pulling in a deep breath, he gripped the bar and lifted it up, forcing his way through a set of bench presses.

The bar clanged loudly as he dropped it back onto the rack's hooks, and Tanner breathed deeply for a moment as he savored the burn in his pectoral muscles. He sat up, looking around the room.

Curls next. He crossed to the rack of dumbbells, picked up a pair of forty-pounders. It felt good to lift them up, feeling the bulging muscle of his bicep sliding back and forth across his upper arm with each flex. He pumped through a set, then carefully lowered the dumbbells down to the ground. He had installed a thick mat in case he dropped any weights, but didn't want to risk accidentally crushing one of his toes.

Slowly, methodically, Tanner worked out each of his major muscle groups, moving in a slow circuit around the room. He pushed himself through five full sets, a complete workout, despite the fact that he had now stayed up well past midnight. The clock mounted on the wall above the door read nearly three AM by the time he re-racked his weights.

Tanner looked down at his body, now gleaming with sweat. His mind felt more relaxed, now, the physical effort of exercise also consuming some of the manic mental energy that had kept him from falling asleep. Not bothering to even duck into the shower, he grabbed a towel, gave himself a quick rubdown, and then dropped into bed.

This time, when he closed his eyes, he felt sleep already hovering just beyond his reach. As he settled deeper into his mattress, it came in, reaching out with silent fingers to carry him away into unconsciousness.

But still, even as he drifted further down, away from wakefulness, Tanner couldn't help but replay the events of that night. Where had he slipped up? Where, exactly, did the night go off book, slip away from his plan?

It happened, he decided, from the moment that he first arrived at Bayou, only to find that Alicia had already beaten him there and was sitting at the table.

More than that, even - she'd already had time to order - and receive - a drink! Seeing her sitting there in the booth, his booth, his favorite spot, looking calm and composed with that drink in her hand, Tanner had been off balance. He'd never quite managed to recover from that point.

Taking advantage of his little stumble, Alicia had brought up the idea of a truce - and he, seeing no other option, accepted.

What might he have done differently? If he'd not taken the truce, he might never have gotten Alicia to open up to him, reveal more of her plan - but Tanner had faced aggressive opponents before and triumphed. He'd crushed bills without needing to cozy up to their sponsors. He could have denied the truce, cut all ties with Alicia, and still found a way to crush her bill before it ever made it to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

But at the time, it seemed to him like his only option was to accept that truce. He'd accepted, and thus slipped further into Alicia's sphere of influence.

So what next?

Sleepy, comfortable, but still not quite ready to relinquish his last little grip on consciousness, Tanner thought ahead to the next few days. He really did want to get into bed with Alicia again - he couldn't deny that truth. But there certainly had to be a way for him to accomplish both his goals - sleep with Alicia, and still bring down her education bill.